1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a detergent supply apparatus for a laundry machine, and more particularly to, a fluid detergent and fabric softener box assembly which can be attached and detached to/from a detergent supply apparatus, and temporarily stores a fluid detergent and a fabric softener until they are selectively introduced into a washing room in water supply, and a detergent dispenser having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a drum laundry machine is installed such that an outer circumferential surface of a cylindrical washing drum is positioned in the up-down direction, and washes laundry in a beat-wash manner using a fall head produced when the washing drum rotates. The drum laundry machine roughly includes a main body forming the exterior appearance, a tub installed in the main body and filled with wash water, and a washing drum rotatably installed in the tub with a plurality of dehydration holes on its wall surface. In addition, a detergent supply apparatus which dissolves a detergent using wash water supplied from an outer water supply source to the inside of the washing drum, and supplies the wash water mixed with the detergent to the inside of the washing drum is installed on the upper side of the tub. Therefore, the drum laundry machine can automatically perform several washing processes such as primary washing, main washing, rinsing, bleaching and dehydration under the control of a control unit by a user's manipulation, and perform various washing processes by supplying a detergent or a fabric softener necessary for each washing process to the inside of the wash tub.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a state where a detergent container of a detergent supply apparatus installed in a general drum laundry machine is taken out, and FIG. 2 is a schematic vertical-sectional view illustrating a structure of the detergent supply apparatus shown in FIG. 1. The detergent supply apparatus of the general drum laundry machine will be described with reference to the above drawings.
The detergent supply apparatus of the general drum laundry machine includes a detergent container housing 30 coupled to one side of an upper portion of a front surface of a main body 10 of the drum laundry machine, a detergent container 40 provided with a receiving groove which can receive a detergent, and installed in the detergent container housing 30 to be taken out, and a dispenser 20 for water supply which supplies wash water to the detergent container 40. In order to use the laundry machine with the above construction, as illustrated in FIG. 1, a user takes out some portion of the detergent container 40 toward the front surface of the main body 10 of the drum laundry machine, puts a detergent and a fabric softener in respective detergent receiving portions separated and partitioned in the detergent container 40, pushes the detergent container 40 into the detergent container housing 30, and operates the laundry machine.
When the laundry machine is operated, respective washing processes are performed under the control of a control unit. A water supply valve 11 is opened, so that wash water is supplied to the inside of the drum laundry machine. The wash water supplied to the inside of the drum laundry machine is supplied to the dispenser 20 for water supply through a connection hose. The wash water supplied to the dispenser 20 for water supply is introduced into the detergent container 40 positioned therebelow, mixed with the detergent or the fabric softener, and supplied to the inside of a tub 50 through a water supply hose 12.
Meanwhile, the detergent container 40 of the detergent supply apparatus described above is constructed such that the detergent and the fabric softener are dissolved by the wash water supplied to the inside thereof, and supplied to the inside of the tub 50 during a washing process. Here, the detergent remains in the detergent container 40. As the above process is repeated, the residual detergent is accumulated in the detergent container 40. Therefore, a cleaning task is required to remove the detergent residues in every certain period.
However, the detergent container 40 is not completely separated from the detergent container housing 30, but partially taken out to the front of the main body 10 by a defined width. It is thus very difficult for the user to do the cleaning task for removing the detergent residues. Moreover, when the user takes out the detergent container 40 to the front of the main body 10, puts the detergent or the fabric softener in the detergent container 40, and pushes the detergent container 40 into the detergent container housing 30, the detergent or the fabric softener may flow over the detergent container 40. Accordingly, the user must carefully put the detergent and the fabric softener in the detergent container 40, which causes inconvenience in use.
In the meantime, with diversification and functionality improvement of the detergent, not only a powder washing detergent formed of fine particles but also a fluid washing detergent formed in a liquid phase has been increasingly used. In this aspect, since the detergent supply apparatus described above supplies a powder washing detergent, and a liquid-phase fabric softener and bleaching agent to the inside of a washing space, it can supply only the powder washing detergent to the inside of the washing space during a washing stroke composed of primary washing and main washing. However, the detergent supply apparatus is not provided with a fluid detergent supply means which can separately supply a liquid-phase washing detergent to perform not bleaching and rinsing functions but a washing function. As a result, there is limitation on satisfying functionality by the user's various demands.